Waranga Dreaming
Like the yam daisy (or murnong) which was mentioned in the previous story, kangaroo meat was a staple food for the local Aboriginal people in the millennia prior to the 1840s. While the women were principally engaged in the collection of murnong, the men took responsibility for hunting kangaroos. There
Waranga Dreaming
One of the staple foods collected by Aboriginal women of the Ngurai-illum Wurrung was the roots or tubers of murnong (Microseris lanceolata), commonly known as the yam daisy. Prior to colonisation, murnong was widespread on the northern plains between the Goulburn and Campaspe Rivers. Within a short space of time
Waranga Dreaming
Logically, you would expect that Aboriginal people would have retreated to the vicinity of the Campaspe and Goulburn Rivers during the summer. Access to a reliable supply of water and food resources would have been vital. This was the conclusion reached by Harry Parris when he was thinking about seasonal
Waranga Dreaming
In some previous stories, we looked at an article written by Harry Parris, of Nagambie, in 1953. From what we now call the Rushworth forest, he surmised the Ngurai-illum balug people may have moved to Waranga swamp (now covered by Waranga Basin) and then on towards what is now the
Waranga Dreaming
During the centenary celebrations of the establishment of Rushworth and Whroo, which took place in 1953, Nagambie resident Harry S Parris wrote a substantial article about what he considered would be the movements of the Ngurai-illum Wurrung around the local area.1 If Mr Parris was correct in some of
Waranga Dreaming
Over the years since colonisation, there has been endless speculation about what the Victorian Aboriginal population would have been pre-1830. Starting from what we know with some certainty, the last census (2016) indicated that there were nearly 50,000 people in Victoria who identified as having Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Waranga Dreaming
In the previous story, we looked at the traditional lands of the Ngurai-illum Wurrung people. It was noted that much of their country became the old Shire of Waranga after European settlement and included the sites of the present-day towns of Colbinabbin, Rushworth, Stanhope, Corop and Murchison. That raises some
Waranga Dreaming
By the early 1800s, prior to colonisation, the “borders” of the lands for which different groups of Aboriginal people in Victoria were custodians were quite clearly defined and respected. This was a process that had been going on for thousands of years. Victoria was divided up into lands of nearly
Waranga Dreaming
The Aboriginal people whose country included the Waranga area were known as the Ngurai-illum Wurrung people. Over the years since European colonisation, nearly 50 variations of this name have been used, such as Ngooraialum, Orilim, Woralim and Noorilim. However, Ngurai-illum Wurrung is the name generally accepted by descendants at this
Waranga Dreaming
Much of the history that has been written about the Aboriginal people of the local Waranga area relates to the last 180 years. This is understandable, in that academic historians are always concerned with written documentation and verification. However, that is all but impossible when a culture has relied on
Waranga Dreaming
Let’s go back in time a little, and briefly reflect on when Homo Sapiens (i.e. the modern human family) first appeared in the Waranga area. A whole range of scientists, from archaeologists to molecular biologists, have been pondering this question for a long time. Recent developments in the
Waranga Dreaming
During his life “King John”, the Aboriginal man born in the new town of Rushworth in 1855-6, developed his skills in boomerang manufacture and throwing to help provide him with an income. When he was interviewed for a front-page article in the Melbourne “Herald” in 1913, he explained that the